The iPod screen
by TMI
Summary: Fang returns to the flock's house after two months of being on his own. He wanders around Max's moonlit room, discovering things that will help him make the decision to stay or go. No longer a one or two shot! Thanks for all the support, people! Love you!
1. A Moonlit Decision

**I found this pic on my iPod, and it inspired me to write.**

Fang alighted on the windowsill easily, peering in at the dark room washed with moonlight. He entered the bedroom silently, like a shadow, via the open window. He wondered why Max had left it open, she was usually so paranoid about little things like leaving windows open while sleeping. Maybe she had left it open just for this purpose. So that if Fang came back, he would have an easy route back into his abandoned life.

He had screwed up, big time. Leaving the flock in a rush of stupid arrogance, thinking he could single-handedly gather an army strong enough to help conquer the evil in the world. Him, a single bird kid, versus the entire evils of the known world. Yeah, right.

But he had stuck to his decision, for awhile. Trying to survive on dumpster diving once again, trying in vain to avoid the rain underneath canopies of bare branches. It was hard enough to survive with six other mutants helping you keep your spirits up, and Fang wondered why he was stupid enough to leave his good life with the flock.

Nudge, his loyal little chatterbox, with her silly material loves and serious ideals.

The Gasman, a cackling little terror, with a great twist of humor and intelligence hidden underneath a boyish face.

Iggy, the amazing pyro who'd kept the flock on their toes with his constant experiments, and filled their stomachs with his delicious cooking.

Angel, his sweet little girl, being laced with evil thoughts by an unknown source.

Total, the comforting little furball with a flair for dramatics.

And Max. Oh, Max. His sarcastic, beautiful, amazing, cynical, tough, gorgeous girlfriend. Why had he ever thought he could live without her for twenty whole years?

Still completely silent, Fang came out of his memories, touching down on Max's carpet softly, and moving around her room. It was roughly the same, but for a few differences. Fang noticed the differences immediately, because they were largely concerning him.

The hole in the wall where he had punched through the plaster in frustration when Max beat him twelve times in a row at checkers. It had been previously left alone, a fond memory of triumph for Max.

Now it was re-plastered, and repainted. Fang didn't need to be told why. He could see where that would be a sore memory for his abandoned Maximum.

The photos of the flock at the County Fair in silver frames around the room were still there, but for a few. The Picture, the one that had first captured Max and Fang sharing a kiss, was missing from its place of honor hanging above Max's messy desk. Another shot, one of Max and Fang sticking their tongues out at each other, was also gone.

It was apparent in these changes, and a few others, that Max was trying to forget Fang, thinking that he would never return to her. Fang gazed around again, drinking in Max's scent that pervaded every corner of her bedroom. He padded over to the dark oak desk, and looked around on it, careful not to shift any of the papers and junk that was littered across its surface. Hanging above the desk was a big corkboard, on which was pinned many photos of the flock, flyers for air shows, a big calendar, and taking up almost a quarter of the board, a big black piece of paper, with silver letters inscribed in a huge version of Max's handwriting.

_WHY?_ the sign read. There were faded spots that Fang suspected were dried tearstains drizzled across the paper. He immediately felt guilty. He had made Max cry, probably numerous times since his disappearance. He was the cause of Max's sorrow. Fang tried to drag his mind away from the awful guilt spreading through it, and scanned Max's calendar instead.

The calendar was a personalized one, with a large picture of a flock member for each month, and several group photos for the remaining months. Fang gently took the calendar off of its pin, and thumbed through the year. It was obviously fairly new, made in the two months of his absence.

January was a picture of Angel, smiling sweetly at the camera and clutching Celeste.

February was Gazzy, a wicked grin across his face, and a suspicious-looking bunch of wires clutched in his hand.

March was Iggy, juggling a frying pan full of crepes, a milk jug, six plastic cups, and a piece of bacon twixt his teeth.

April depicted Nudge, her curls held back by a silver sparkly headband, and dressed in a pink sweatshirt, black skinny jeans, and soft boots, flying about six feet above the grass.

May was Total, grinning a doggy grin at the camera from underneath a plaid blanket.

June was Dr Martinez, holding a tray of her chocolate chip cookies in one hand, and smiling a knowing smile.

July was Ella playing soccer, her ponytail flying and her arms out for balance like a professional as she smashed her foot into the ball.

August was Fang himself, dressed in his normal black, leaning against a brick wall, with his dark hair flopping into equally dark eyes, and smiling a secretive Fang-smile back out at the real Fang.

September was a picture of the flock flying in formation at an air show, their hands connected to form a star with a little black dot that was Total flying in the middle.

October was a disgruntled Akila stuffed into a jack-o-lantern, with Total howling indignantly behind her.

November was Max and Fang sitting on a bench under the autumn-toned leaves of a maple tree in the park.

December was Max herself. Fang drew in a small breath as he gazed at her, draped in a flowing white dress with tank top straps, and her wings unfolded, her wingtips brushing the ground. Max's face was radiant with happiness, and for once her hair was completely smooth and shiny, tucked into a tortoiseshell clip with tiny strands framing her face.

Fang had to replace the calendar before he dropped it, his hands shaking with emotion. Now Fang dared to look in the direction his eyes had been avoiding out of guilt.

Max was snuggled into her bed, the purple comforter draped around her lithe form. Her hair was splayed across the white pillow, and her tanned face was relaxed, but laced with telltale streaks that showed that she had cried herself to sleep. Fang now walked over to her as if drawn by a magnet, his eyes riveted on her face. He reached out with one hand as if to caress her cheek, but stopped himself. No. Fang had to truly decide if he would stay again before he gave himself back to Max.

Wrenching his gaze away from the beauty that was Max, he cast his eyes about the room again to find something to help him make his decision. Fang's keen sight found an iPod touch in a black case, plugged in to the outlet just below the re-plastered hole in the wall. He stepped over mounds of clothing and papers scattered across the sea foam-colored carpet to get to the iPod. Fang crouched down and picked it up, clicking the little circular button to start the iPod up. He waited for a moment before being rewarded with a view of the battery symbol and the white numbers telling him it was 2:30 in the morning. Fang pulled the charger out of the bottom of the iPod, and was met with a new picture. A Manga girl with pale blond hair, white wings and blue eyes lay on a field of snow, a tired expression on her face and a bloodstained bandage on her upper arm. Above the girl was a plain black script. Fang read it, and paused, shocked.

_Sometimes you need to run away, just to see who will come after you._

Oh, the wisdom of iPods. Fang gazed at the screen of Max's iTouch, not quite believing the message inscribed in glowing letters on the photo saved as her wallpaper. He assumed she was trying to find a reason for his departure that could soothe her pain. Fang slid one calloused finger across the touch screen, and was greeted by a number pad and the words 'Enter Passcode'. He immediately knew what Max's password would be, and typed in the four numbers. 3264. On the number pad, it spelled out

FANG.

3624 was always Max's password when she wrote in numbers. Likewise, Fang's password was 6294, which spelled out MAXI. Max hated to be called that, so obviously that was Fang's choice. Fang stared at the screen that displayed her apps. There was one for the weather, one for YouTube, one for her Notes, another for Music, and several others for games like Tap Fish, Pets Live, Cube Runner, Cut the Rope, and a wallpaper app. Fang cast around on the pages of apps until he found one called Mood Pad. Writing messily with his pointer finger on the touch screen, he tried many times to write a short message to Max. Finally, he got frustrated, and exited the app, instead entering one called Glow Draw, which had smaller lines to draw with. He drew a broken heart, one shard labeled F and the other labeled M. Beneath the heart he wrote in the tiniest writing he could manage, Fang wrote,

_I'm always here, although you may not know it. –Fang_

Fang saved the picture to her photos, then figuring it might be days before she opened the photos app again, resolved to leave that as the open app, so when Max unlocked her iPod, it would be the first thing she saw. Then, Fang realized that he could draw on pictures with Glow Draw, and found Max's wallpaper. He doodled a glowing aqua line through the words, and wrote over the Manga girl with wings,

_That's not why I left._

Fang plugged the iPod back into the wall, and turned it off again. He stood up, and made his way over to the bed again. He had decided what he was going to do.

"Good bye Max. I love you this much," Fang whispered sadly, spreading his arms apart to their widest distance. He suddenly dropped them again, and turned to the window. He had one foot on the sill and was about to put the other up beside it when Max murmured something in her sleep.

"I love you Fang." Her words were heavy, and Fang was sure she was still asleep. Still, if one had looked at him when he heard Max speak to him for the first time since Akila and Total's wedding, they would have sworn that either the moon was sparkling directly in his eyes, or

Fang was crying.

**Mwa ha ha…. Yet another attempt made by my imagination to thwart my update for Race for the Cure! But it won't work… Or maybe it will. **

**Hmmm… **

**I will try to update that, if you're reading this, Wingedgirl36. XD I'm just…. Working up some inspiration for Percy and Trest's fight scene! Yeah, that's it!**

**Peace out,**

**~TMI~**


	2. ATTENTION! AN

**Wow. I can't believe how much you guys liked this story. **

** I was just going to leave this a oneshot, but dang! Everyone knows the Golden Rule for FF writers.**

_**LE GOLDEN RULE: IF THEY REVIEW FOR IT, AND/OR CRY AND/OR USE BAMBI EYES, YOU MUST WRITE MORE.**_

__**… At least, that's MY Golden Rule. So a special shout out to my lovely reviewers/favorite-ers,/alert-ers, I LOVE YOU ALL! () {your review was funny}, xXPhoenixWingsXx, Dinamite Pancakes (I don't know if you're aware of this, but that's spelled Dynamite. At least, I think it is. XD), emma (Thank you! And see, Bambi Eyes do work! It's even part of the Golden Rule!), rawritscasey, PandaXCherryblossom, VitaLaKatee, xFang'sgirlkirstx, Dark Skitty Power (Thanks for reading it Skits!), Nikki Ride (I may do just that. Let's see…)AlixanderMasen, xWhite Winged Angelx, The Seagull (I love you. End of discussion. XD), soccerbabe333 (I'm really touched that you like it that much. EVERYONE, THIS IS THE REVIEWER THAT CONVINCED ME TO KEEP WRITING!) and zeze90. **

** Thank you all so much! And I may turn this into a full story Nikki. I'll go with the flow and see if it works out. XD. Oh my fnick, my PJO readers are gnashing their teeth as I type…**

**SO YES, THIS STORY WILL BE CONTINUED. JUST REMEMBER, I DON'T WANT TO BE BURNED AT THE FF STAKE FOR NEGLECTING MY PJO FANFIC, SO UPDATES MAY BE SLOW, DEPENDING ON THE INSPIRATION FLOW AND TIME QUOTA.**

**XD**

**Peace out,**

**~TMI~**


	3. Why?

**I still don't understand why you people like this so much. I asked my friend Dark Skitty Power why she liked it, and our conversation wasn't very enlightening. It went kinda like this:**

**Skitty: We need to go to band now. **we start walking towards the band room****

**Me: Hey Skitty, you know my story The iPod Screen?**

**Skitty: Yeah. That was the awesome one.**

**Me: I was going to ask you that! Why do you think it's so good?**

**Skitty: Because it's awesome!**

**Me; But **_**why **_**is it awesome?**

**Skitty: … Because it's awesome?**

**Me: BUT WHY do you like it so much?**

**Skitty: Because it's awesome!**

**Me: … Nevermind …. I'll ask my other readers. **

**Skitty: XD**

**It was pretty funny… But still not enlightening. I KNOW YOU TRIED SKITTY! IT'S OKAY! XD**

**Actually, she was the one I talked to about this chapter too. XD ENOUGH WITH THE A/N! I'LL GO ON WITH THE STORY NOW!**

_Max and Fang were flying through the air, holding hands as they soared on a column of warm air. They circled on the column for a few minutes, before Fang suggested they hit the ground. Immediately, they nosedived, and headed towards the ground with the wind rushing in their faces. _

_ They slowed slightly as they neared the ground, pulling up to land on their feet, and continue walking with hands clasped tightly. Fang and Max soon were traveling through a thick forest, when a horde of Erasers appeared out of nowhere. They kicked and punched and fought Eraser after Eraser, side by side, but to no avail. There were just too many._

_ As soon as they realized this, they looked up, hoping to find an escape by air. Luck was not on their side as they spotted a huge metal net stretched across the tree canopy above them. Fang abruptly stopped fighting and turned to Max, fear and love swirling in his dark eyes. "Good bye Max. I love you this much.*" He stretched out his arms all the way, inadvertently punching an Eraser in the face in doing so. Max smiled through the sweat, blood and tears mingling on her face, looking at Fang with equal love in her eyes. _

_ "I love you Fang**," she told him simply, before they were swarmed by the Erasers, and she fell into a deep sleep._

Max woke up when the sunlight streamed in through her open window directly in her face. She pushed off her comforter, silently rubbing her eyes free of sleep. As it happened every morning the same wave of sorrow and pain came crashing down on her as she realized that yet again, her day would be totally without Fang's dark, comforting presence by her side.

She didn't yet know about her nighttime visitor…

Max got out of bed, pulling the waistband of her plaid pajama pants up and attempting to wrangle her hair into a messy band with a black elastic. Even the color of her hair-band reminded her of her absent boyfriend. "Why did you go?" she asked herself quietly, like she did all the time. Max had found a picture on her iPod that may have been the reason he left. Did Fang want the flock to come after him, to show him they truly cared? But in his letter, he had said to forget about him!

Max groaned. Boys were so confusing.

Speaking of her iPod, she had recently discovered some nice, time-consuming games for it, games like Pets LIVE, TapFish, TapBirds, Restaurant Story, and her favorite, Cut The Rope. Games like the first four had to be checked every day, which Max usually did right after she woke up. Max walked over to the socket in the wall, reaching out to pull the charging plug out of it and walk with it in hand back to her bed. As the charger exited the port of the iPod, the screen lit up to show the time, date and wallpaper. Max tilted her head to look at the screen while she walked back to her bed. It was 9:27 AM on Saturday, the nineteenth of December. Max shifted her gaze to the wallpaper, and bit back a gasp. It was different from when she had plugged it in the night before! None of the flock knew her password besides Angel, who knew all sorts of things that were supposed to be secrets, and Max knew for sure that Angel had not sneaked into her room and changed her wallpaper.

Max was sure Angel wasn't the culprit, because she recognized the handwriting on the picture. She bit back a small sob as she quickly keyed in her password, FANG. The screen opened up to her photos app, which it hadn't been left on the night before. Curiously enough, Max noticed that the two pictures at the end were also new. She tapped on the second to last one with her right pointer finger, gripping the iPod tightly in her left. She recognized the handwriting, because she was sure it was Fang's.

Sure enough, when she opened the first of the new pictures, it was her original wallpaper, but slightly modified. Max quickly recognized the changes as ones Fang must have made with her Glow Draw app. Fang had crossed a messy neon line through the words at the top, his large finger spreading thick on the screen. Max could see where he must have written with the smallest lines possible in order to fit another message at the bottom. Fang apparently had no regard for the fallen snow angel's face, because he had written straight across it in more neon writing. _That's not why I left. –F_

Oh, that helps a lot, Fang, Max thought angrily, wiping furiously at her streaming eyes. You come back to me, only to leave again without me even seeing you! Max had forgotten about the second picture, but when she moved her finger to click on the delete button, it changed the screen to the next new picture.

A glowing red heart, broken in half, filled a black backdrop. One half was labeled F, and the other M. It was a simple picture, but it had a clear message. Fang still loved her, and was apparently heartbroken about having to leave. Max processed all of this slowly, but eventually her quick temper got the better of her. She threw the iPod down hard on the bed, where it bounced harmlessly among the sheets. Turning rapidly to face the wall, she punched through the plaster as hard as she could.

As hard as Max could punch was very hard indeed, and her arm went all the way through the wall, until the entire appendage was stuck all the way through the wall, and her bloodied fist was stretched out on the other side. Max was now encased in plaster and wood up to her shoulder, and crying silently, her other hand curled in a fist and laid weakly against the wall at her other side. "Why?" she whispered, tears streaming down her face. Why?

Nudge chose this moment to come skipping down the hallway, her hair and teeth brushed, and her outfit for the day already put on. She halted suddenly in the hallway, staring, astonished, at the strange sight of a scratched fist poking through the wall a foot to the left of the door to Max's room. Nudge stared at the fist for a moment, before tentatively opening Max's door and peering inside. "Max? Are you okay in here?" Nudge asked, walking inside. She beheld Max, her arm completely through the wall and crying stormily, her eyes tightly shut as the tears worked their way through them. "Max!" Nudge cried out, rushing over to her obviously upset leader. She reached around Max, putting her arms around her in a tentative hug. Max made no reaction, just continuing to cry. Nudge closed her eyes and rocked Max gently back and forth while tears flowed down her cheeks. They stood like this for awhile, Max's arm stuck in the wall, and Nudge hugging her while she cried. After about ten minutes, during which neither of them said a word while Max cried steadily, the tear flow slowed, then stopped. Nudge stepped away, smiling shyly at Max. "Do you want to say anything?" Nudge asked gently. Max looked at her with a desperate expression in her eyes, then closed them.

"Not yet. I'll tell you later though," Max promised quietly through a croaky voice. Nudge nodded, then looked back up at her leader, standing there looking so defenseless and weak.

"Iggy was about to start making waffles when I went downstairs before. Do you want some?" Nudge offered. Max opened her eyes again and smiled weakly at Nudge.

"No, that's alright Nudge, I'm not hungry right now. Why don't you go down and eat? I'll be there in a little while, I just need to think for a moment," Max told her. Nudge nodded again, hugging Max one more time before exiting the room and heading downstairs. Max extracted her arm from the wall, unaware of the blood on her knuckles or the scratches running up and down her arm. She sank down onto her bed, picking up her iPod again. Max unlocked it and looked at the picture of the broken heart again. Her sharp eyes picked up a detail she had missed before. At first glance, she had thought that the tangle of glowing lines at the bottom was a mistake. Now as she looked closer, Max realized that the lines were actually one more message from Fang.

_I'm always here, although you may not know it. –Fang_

That confirmed it. Even if it hadn't been obvious by his handwriting, the pictures, the signing of –F, she now knew for sure that her little iPod hacker was Fang. Only Fang wrote his name like that, with just the right amount of scrawl, and the cutest little loop connecting the 'n' and the 'g'.

"If you're always here, then why do I feel so alone?" Max asked the ceiling as she lay on her back, staring at it. "If you're always here, then why aren't you? What did I do wrong?" Max felt more tears leak from her eyes, but she was done crying. "If you're always here, Fang, then I guess it's about time that you show yourself," she told the ceiling coldly, before getting up off her bed and heading to the bathroom for a long shower.

Nudge descended down the staircase into the kitchen, immediately picking up on the smells of Iggy's cooking. The sweet scent of syrup and butter mingling, the savory scent the bacon on the stove was giving off, the smell of the scrambled eggs frying, and above all, the indescribable scent of Iggy's special waffles cooking were hanging in the air. Nudge walked over to her seat next to Angel at the big kitchen table, slightly preoccupied by the scene with Max. Angel turned from watching Gazzy scarf down a plateful of bacon and looked at Nudge with wide blue eyes. "What's wrong Nudge?" She asked sweetly. Nudge shrugged, looking helpless.

"I'm not sure. I was walking down the hallway to come down for breakfast and I saw Max's fist sticking through her wall out into the hallway. She had punched all the way through," Nudge explained. Angel furrowed her brow.

"Why?" she asked simply. Nudge shrugged again.

"I have no idea. Then when I went in to find out, I find her shoulder-deep in the wall and crying her eyes out." Nudge and Angel locked gazes, then both nodded.

"It must be something about Fang" Angel said decisively. Nudge nodded, a hint of sadness in her dark brown eyes. "I wonder what it its?..." Angel closed her eyes, a look of concentration on her face. For a moment she just sat quietly, completely still. Nudge knew that she was trying to quietly sift through the recent memories in Max's mind to try and find out what happened. Iggy came over to the table with a plateful of fresh waffles for Nudge and set them down directly in front of her. Nudge smiled, then said quietly,

"Thanks Igs." Iggy nodded, then motioned in Angel's direction.

"What's she doing?" He asked in a low voice, as not to disturb her.

"I found Max beating up the wall and crying nonstop when I walked down the hallway this morning," Nudge explained quietly. "Angel's looking to see what the matter is." Iggy nodded, and turned to go back to his waffle iron. Nudge watched as he ladled more batter into the hot metal and closed the lid, then turned her gaze to where Gazzy was eating his last few strips of bacon. Gazzy was being quiet too, after he had realized what Angel was doing, so silence reigned in the kitchen for a few minutes as Angel explored Max's memories. Suddenly, Angel sat up, tears in her blue eyes.

"I understand why Max is so upset," she told the silent room quietly. "I understand perfectly. Poor Max…" Angel wiped her eyes before explaining further. "She had a dream about Fang last night, and it seemed really real to her. Then she woke up this morning and knew that it wasn't true, Fang wasn't back. She opened her iPod to take care of her virtual pets, and there was a picture that apparently Fang had drawn, along with another. She was so upset when she realized that it meant Fang had come again and left that she had to let her anger out somehow, and the wall was the closest physical object she could translate her pain into." Angel looked around at the three solemn faces in the kitchen, and rubbed her nose. "Poor Max," she repeated, taking a waffle off Nudge's plate and studying it with watery blue eyes. Nudge and Gazzy nodded sadly, but Iggy had an angry expression on his pale face.

"Why did Fang leave? To heck with that question, why did he even come back if he was going to leave again? He had to know he'd just break Max's heart again when she saw his little drawings! Fang is such a jerk…" Iggy steamed furiously, stalking over to the waffle iron and pulling out a perfectly browned specimen, throwing it down on a plate and angrily ladling more batter into the waffle iron. Nudge stared at Iggy before speaking to him in a soothing tone.

"Iggy, it must be torture for Fang too to have to leave Max alone. He obviously has his reasons for staying away, he told us them all in the letter he left before. It isn't exactly his fault," Nudge concluded. "But I still think it wasn't nice of him to come back in the middle of the night and then just leave again," she added darkly. "That wasn't nice at all."

Max stared at the iPod screen***, wondering again and again why Fang had left. Why? Why? _WHY?_ She had to know, or she'd go crazy.

"Fang, please just come back," she whispered into her pillow that night. "Just… come back." Max's eyelids grew heavy, and she fell asleep, completely unaware that a dark shadow was listening to her words from outside the open window.

**The * was to say that was what Fang said out loud to Max in the last chapter before he left! Remember? Max heard him say it, and it worked into her dream. AWWWW! SO CUTE!**

**The ** was to say that is what Max said aloud back to him, when Fang was **_**crying…**_

**The *** was to say HEY! THAT'S THE TITLE OF THE STORY! I RULE!**

**Now… what should happen next? Should Fang come back immediately, or after a little while? Suggestions are appreciated! XD**

**~TMI~**


	4. Oops Did he see me? Wait, he's blind

**I'm BAAAACK! Guess what, I now have a thinking hat! It's orange and green and pink and blue and purple plaid on the outside, with earflaps and fuzziness! I'm wearing it right now, so at the end of the chappie can you guys tell me if it's a good thinking hat or not? Thank you in advance!**

** I should really be writing my English memoir about the time my soccer team was chased by a random coach in a demented baby costume on Halloween, but instead I'm updating! FEEL SPECIAL!**

**Dedicated to emma and The Seagull and Dark Skitty Power and soccerbabe333 and Blackice1234 and Maia Sky and ALL OF THE OTHER AWESOME PEOPLES WHO REVIEWED/FAVORITED/ALERTED ME! YAY!**

Fang slid back against the tan plaster of the Flock's house, his knees buckling as he fell down on his butt. Emotions wailed in his chest, though he looked the picture of calm on the outside. What should he do now? Max was obviously tearing herself apart even more now than she had before he visited. He had meant to make her feel better, that he was watching over her. Obviously, his actions had backfired.

Oops.

Fang didn't know what to do, so he just sat with his back against the sun-warmed wall, thinking deep thoughts. So deep in thought was he that he didn't even notice as the back door opened and Iggy walked out, carrying a trash bag. He was humming under his breath as he walked, and the sound snapped Fang out of his thoughts. He stilled completely, trying to flatten himself against the wall without being seen- heard by Iggy. Suddenly, his heel crunched on a twig, and Iggy snapped his head around, his foggy, ice-blue eyes trained directly on Fang's heel. "Who's there?" Iggy asked commandingly, obviously thinking it was some random hooligan thinking he could pick on a blind guy. Fang didn't reply, trying to turn quietly so that Iggy wouldn't be able to figure out where he was. His special disappearing trick wouldn't work on someone who couldn't see him in the first place.

"I mean it you know," Iggy warned the silent bird kid, unaware of the fact that his culprit was none other than Fang. "I may not look fierce, but I can fight adeptly!"

Fang had to laugh at this. "Adeptly?" he snickered, then abruptly stopped. Crap! He had basically just told Iggy that it was actually Fang he was talking to. Or more correctly, talking _at._

Iggy stopped where he was, completely thrown. After a minute of him straining to hear Fang again and Fang making no noise at all, he spoke. "Fang?" he whispered. "Is it you?"

Fang had to go. He wasn't ready to face the Flock yet. "No," he replied unconvincingly. Iggy dropped the trash bag and walked towards Fang, who panicked. Snapping his wings out of the slits in his jacket, he prepared to jump up and fly away. As he went airborne, Iggy yelled, "Oh no you don't!" and jumped up into the sky after him. Fang beat his wings as fast as he could, desperately wishing that he would suddenly develop a talent that would help him escape from Iggy. The blind mutant was intent on catching Fang and giving him a talking-to though, and was not easily shaken off. "Fang!" he yelled at the silent bird kid over the wind. "Stop! Let me talk to you!"

"No, Iggy! I can't yet," Fang shot back, putting on a burst of speed. Iggy matched him though, and they flew through the clouds, Fang spinning and cutting turns, trying to throw Iggy off his trail. Iggy hung on to his lead resolutely, flinching as he dove through clouds in order to get to Fang. Suddenly, Fang cut to the left, disappearing into a cloud bank and leaving Iggy flapping quietly in the sky, alone. "Fang?" he whispered. Suddenly, he heard the familiar sound of air whooshing through long hair, and immediately pinpointed Fang's location. He flew silently towards Fang, who couldn't see Iggy through the cloud he was hiding in. Suddenly, Iggy burst through the wall of mist and tackled him, which sent them both spiraling down through the air, their wings snapping shut in a wall of feathers around them. They plummeted for hundreds of feet, before Iggy opened his wings and slowed their fall into a smoother descent, the extra weight of the struggling bird kid he was clinging to straining his extra feathery appendages. They hit the ground at a roll, breaking their speed down and at the same time loosening Iggy's grip on Fang. Fang quickly took his advantage and managed to roll into a standing position while Iggy was still on the ground. Iggy rolled over and heard Fang's foot leaving the ground as he started to run. Lunging forward, he grabbed at the place where he pictured Fang's ankles being. His aim was true, and Fang was tripped, falling face first in the grass of the meadow they had landed in. Iggy immediately leaped on top of the bird kid, making sure Fang couldn't get up again. "Iggy! Get off me!" Fang growled.

"No! You do realize what you're doing, don't you? You're trying to make yourself feel better about leaving Max, when you're actually just hurting her more! You're breaking her Fang! She punched a hole straight through the wall this morning when she saw your doodles, then broke down and cried for ten minutes straight. After that little episode, she refused to come out of her room all day. How do you feel about making the girl you love feel that way?" Iggy yelled at his friend. Fang suddenly stopped struggling under Iggy's hold, lying tiredly on the cool, damp grass. "Well?" Iggy prompted impatiently, cuffing Fang's head. Fang made no response for a moment, before sighing, a sound that was so broken and helpless that Iggy felt a little bad about his treatment towards him. "Fang?" he asked again, his tone the tiniest bit nicer.

"I feel like crap. I feel like death. I feel like I want to go back to your house and just kiss Max forever, which might help but probably not at this stage. I feel like giving up on life. In other words, I'm becoming what everybody always said I was," Fang spat out, his tone angry, but laced with defeat.

"What's that?" Iggy asked, his interest momentarily piqued.

"Emo," Fang replied.

Iggy couldn't help it. He laughed, laughing so long and so hard that tears came into his blind eyes, and he rolled off of Fang and onto the grass, laughing hysterically, ironically, at pain. Fang stared at him for a moment, completely forgetting that he should have been running away now that Iggy was incapable of following him. Oddly enough, watching Iggy laugh, rolling around on the grass, he felt a little happier himself. His previously downturned mouth quirked up a little, then a little more, until Iggy had a companion laughing uncontrollably next to him on the grass. Immediately after he heard the rare sound of Fang all-out laughing though, he stopped laughing. Fang didn't seem to notice, and kept at it, laughing until tears ran out of his dark eyes that no longer held a strange, haunted look in them. Iggy listened to him laugh until slowly, the random humor of the situation deflated enough to let him sit up and rub his now-aching stomach. "Well, that was satisfying," Iggy remarked. Fang nodded, then remembered that Iggy couldn't see him.

"Yeah. Definitely."

"Well, what are you going to do now?" Iggy asked, getting back to business. Fang sobered down, his eyes looking a little less happy and more typical brick-wall-Fang.

"I have no idea." Fang slumped back and allowed himself to fall back on the grass so he was staring up at the blue sky, sprinkled with puffs of clouds. Fang's smiled slightly as he saw shapes in the cloud that he and Iggy had probably caused as they had flown through them.

"I think that you should come back to the Flock," Iggy told him bluntly. Fang stiffened, then relaxed, understanding where Iggy was coming from.

"I know I should, but I don't feel ready yet. I'm just going to hang out around here right now, then come back after just a little bit more time," Fang explained carefully, not wanting to make Iggy mad again.

Iggy felt his anger flare up at what he felt was Fang's selfishness, then tried to reason with himself. He knew how Fang must feel, leaving the flock, then realizing what his subconscious had known. He couldn't live without them. This was his pride speaking up, overpowering his common sense and longings to come back to them. "That's okay Fang," he told him, surprisingly gentle.

They sat on the grass and talked for awhile, catching up on what had happened during their separation. After awhile, Iggy remembered that he was supposed to just be taking out the trash, and that the flock must be getting worried about him. They stood up and took off, Fang leading the way back to the flock's house. Their silence was comfortable, with Fang making extra noise with his shirt and wings so that Iggy could follow without being babied by having to hold onto Fang. Presently, they landed behind the house again, the bag of trash lying exactly where Iggy had dumped it. Fang leaned against the wall, watching as the blind bird kid deftly lift the raccoon-proof garbage can lid and drop the plastic bag inside. After his task was done, Iggy stood next to Fang in companionable silence as they watched the sun go down in a blaze of glory, flashing in layers of red, salmon, yellow, white, and lighter, then darker blues. Darkness began to descend on the world, and Iggy turned suddenly to Fang. They clasped hands and gripped them tightly for a few seconds, unseeing eyes staring into sad black ones. "Until you return again, then," Iggy broke the silence, attempting to sound dramatic and lighten the atmosphere. Fang smiled weakly.

"Yeah Igs. I'll see you later," Fang promised quietly. They released hands, and Iggy turned to go back into the house. Fang watched as the door closed, feeling his heart break for at least the fifth time that week, being cut off from his link to his family again. Abruptly, Fang turned and ran a few feet, snapping out his wings and soaring into the sky, feeling a thrill from the weightless feeling he gained from flight, something that he never tired of.

Angel cracked open the door, watching as Fang looped momentarily, before becoming a speck in the distance. Tears formed in her blue eyes, before she brushed them out of the way. "We love you Fang," she whispered. "Hurry back soon."

**Yay! Sorry Sierra, I had inspiration for this, and I didn't feel like typing up DFA at the moment. ^-^" Did you guys like this? If so, please tell me in a review! I love them so much! =D**

**My fifteen-year-old brother just farted next to my head, locked my iPod for ten minutes, and then proceeded to light hand sanitizer on fire in the house on the tile floors. ' ~ ' Idiot.**

**~TMI~**


	5. Angel's Thoughts on Fang leaving

**WOW I AM SO AMAZED. I HAVE GOTTEN **_**15 REVIEWS FOR ONE FNICKING CHAPTER. **_**That, my friends, is an amazing achievement for me. You say you want Fang back, but when Fang comes back the story will be over. Do you really want that? **Bambi Eyes****

**Gazzy: Yes.**

…**Jerk.**

**Gazzy: I want you to write more of the other story!**

**What, Race for the Cure? That's PJO, and I have no inspiration at the moment. ;_;**

**Gazzy: No, the OTHER other story.**

**Hmm, the OTHER other story… How articulate. **

****SKITTY POPS IN****

**DSP: ARTICULACITY!**

****SKITTY POPS OUT****

**Hehehe, good times, gooood times. Anyway Gasman, I have no idea what you're talking about. **

**Gazzy: … nevermind. Just get on with it.**

**OKAY! Giggle, I love writing the beginning A/Ns. I always do that first. =D Thanks to:**

**Soul's Anima, NightOwlGirl, soothingstar, Kimoura.J, Shojo-Chan (do you really want him back still?), PonandZi, ADarkWingedForever (Thanks for the compliment. XD I love you too), Blackice1234 (I'm so glad you weren't anonymous this time. It irks me when I get anonymous reviews I'm itching to reply to!) Valkary (hehe, you said BUTTERCUP! XD), The Codebreaker (Thank you so much!), SarahBelle96, soccerbabe333 (I'm glad you think so. I have another fic with thirty year old flock though. XD) (I know! IT **_**IS**_** AWESOME!) WhatTheFnick xFang and Iggyx, I heart manga 89, MaxRideFreak, jaceandclaryforever, readinglove, lalal, maia sky (Yes, unfortunately it is VERY flammable)5253Racer, I'm short (thanks so much for reading practically all of my stories!)luvin'-music (that was a very creative threat) and of course Dark Skitty Power! **

**Thanks everyone! I feel loved! XD**

**By the way, Ninja is now a verb, adverb, noun, adjective and awesome occupation.**

Iggy heard a lot of noise coming from the living room, and headed towards the doorway. He wondered what all the commotion was until he heard, "You must have put the poison in this cup, because only an idiot would put it in the cup closer to him. But you must have put the poison in _this _cup, because only an idiot would put it in the obvious choice of my cup, and you are certainly not an idiot. BUT, you must have put the poison in _this_ cup…" Iggy tuned it out after realizing the flock must have been watching _The Princess Bride._

"NO YOU IDIOT IT'S THE OTHER CUP!" Nudge shrieked at the guy in the movie. Yep, Iggy definitely did not want to go in there. Instead, he stealthily ninja'd his way behind the couch the flock was sitting on. They were so enraptured in the movie that no one noticed the six-foot-tall bird kid ninja-ing behind them. Iggy grinned silently, and made his way to the other doorway and up the stairs. So that was how Fang felt all the time. Remembering the silent bird kid, he counted the steps as he ascended, making sure he didn't try to walk up air like he had the first few times he dealt with a staircase. That attempt had ended up with him sitting at the bottom of the stairs again, with Fang all-out laughing at him. It was a rare occurrence, and Max was utterly in bliss at the sound, but Iggy had wished that Fang could have laughed at something that didn't have to do with him.

Speaking of Fang…

Iggy got to the top of the stairs without incident (Thank the Lord) and began walking down the hallway towards his room, when he heard the sound of small feet running up the stairs behind him. He immediately knew that they were Angel's footsteps, and stopped to wait for her. "Hey Iggy!" she whispered, trying not to disturb the flock watching the movie in the living room.

"Yeah Ange? Is something wrong?" he asked in a low voice. He pictured her smile at his words.

"No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to talk to you," Angel explained. Iggy frowned at her vagueness, but said nothing as she fell into step with him. They turned and walked into the room that had been proclaimed the 'Game Room' by Gazzy, even though it was never used for games, but more often for testing his and Iggy's experiments. Iggy fell onto the couch that he knew was in the corner, and waited for Angel to start talking. He listened as she shuffled over to the bean bag Nudge had dragged in earlier and sat down, the stuffing crackling and shifting as she plopped into it. "Iggy, I saw Fang," she told him seriously, directly to her point. Iggy froze, his mind whirring as he tried to think of something to say that wasn't too suspicious.

"Really Ange? That's so cool! Where was he?" Iggy feigned excited interest. Angel snorted, and Iggy had to hold back a grin at how much she sounded like Max.

"We both know that you were talking to him, Igs. I can read minds," she reminded him. Iggy mentally face-palmed. How could he forget that?

Angel giggled. "I don't know how you forgot it, but you did. I just want to know what you guys talked about. I heard you thinking about talking with Fang, but I couldn't figure out what your exact conversation was." Iggy relaxed from his seat on the couch.

"Don't tell anyone, okay Angel? Fang isn't sure when he's coming back for good, and he doesn't want to falsely lift anyone's spirits," Iggy warned her. He knew she was smart enough not to tell Max anything, but was pretty sure Angel would be tempted to tell Nudge or Gazzy.

"I won't," she promised. "Just tell me what Fang said." The sadness in her voice was the evidence that she deeply missed having her other big brother around.

Iggy tried to recount exactly what happened for Angel, remembering little details of the older boys' meeting and explaining exactly what Fang had told him. Angel lapped up the news like it was life-saving, obviously desperately wanting news of Fang. When Iggy finished telling her though, Angel was silent. "He told me he would be back, and then he flew away," he concluded. "I don't know when we'll see him again."

"I saw him flying away," Angel admitted. "I was wondering what was taking you so long just to put the garbage in the bin, and went out to check while everyone else started watching _The Princess Bride._ I've seen that movie way too many times, so I went to go see where you went. I guess I just missed you, because when I opened the door to check if you were outside, I could see Fang flying away. It was so sad," she added softly. "I wish he could just make up his mind to stay. I know he wants to."

"Want isn't the same thing as duty Ange," Iggy told her solemnly, imagining the yearning on her face.

"Isn't that a pithy piece of advice?" Max's voice sounded from the doorway. Iggy abruptly turned to where she stood, desperately wondering how much she had heard. "What's with the sudden spouts of wisdom Igs?" she asked, walking leisurely into the room and sitting on the couch next to him. Iggy froze, hoping she hadn't heard anything about Fang.

"Angel wants to know why policemen don't just steal anything they want and say it's legal business." Iggy was surprised at the words that came out of his mouth. "I was just telling her that it's their duty not to do things like that," he added, wondering why his lips were moving without him telling them to.

"Ok then, that's interesting." Max's voice was thoughtful, as if she was thinking his words through. "What made you ask that, Ange?"

"Oh, I don't know," she told Max sweetly. "I saw a policeman looking at something in a store window all wistfully, and I was wondering why he didn't just take it if he wanted it." Angel paused for breath, then continued in her completely on-the-spot story. "Now I know that it's just wrong to do stuff like that. I can't believe I actually almost did that with Celeste! Then I thought of getting someone else to buy her for me, so it was okay after all," she concluded. Iggy marveled at Angel's ability to sound completely convincing when she was telling a totally new story to Max without any warning. It made him slightly wary of the time when he had found her and Nudge playing with the chemicals in his and Gazzy's experiment box, and she had told him that she wanted to know if pure cobalt was actually a really pretty shade of blue…

"I see." Max's voice sounded far away, as if she wasn't thinking about the conversation. "Well, I was just checking up to see what you were doing. We finished the movie, by the way. I love the dude with the sword whose name I can never pronounce. He is just the awesomest Spaniard ever!" Max declared. Suddenly, Angel's stomach rumbled.

"What time is it?" Iggy asked, stifling a laugh. He heard cloth shifting, and in a moment Max's voice sounded again.

"It's almost six thirty," she reported, getting up off the couch. "Can you start dinner soon, Igs? Angel sounds like she's hungry."

"I'm starving!" she proclaimed. "Can we have pasta and garlic bread Iggy? With that really good sauce you make?" Iggy could almost feel her Bambi-eyes trained on him, and smiled.

"Sure Angel, I can do that." He started getting up off the couch. _Ange, how much of our conversation did Max hear? _Iggy asked her urgently.

_She only came in when you said that thing about want not being the same thing as duty. I'm not sure if she heard anything before that though,_ Angel reported. Iggy relaxed, deciding that Max couldn't have heard anything important.

_By the way, nice story. Did you make me say those things about policemen not stealing stuff?_ Iggy asked. He had figured that Angel had mind-controlled him into saying that so Max wouldn't be suspicious.

_Yep! Was it convincing? _She asked happily, starting to skip as they exited the 'Game Room'.

"Definitely," Iggy said out loud. "I believed myself." Angel giggled, and Iggy made sure he didn't fall down the stairs before heading to the kitchen to start on dinner. Angel made her way back to the room she shared with Nudge. She really hoped that Fang would come back soon. Angel hated to see Max sad all the time, it made her feel bad about all the things she had done before, like voting Max out of the flock. It seemed like so long ago, when she had suddenly been overtaken by a strong desire to lead the flock. As soon as she realized what she was doing though, Angel tried to contain her weird urges to overthrow Max. Luckily though, they had soon disappeared completely, something Angel was relieved about. She didn't like being mean, and she had always felt like it was her fault that Fang left the flock, her fault that he thought it would be better to distance himself from Max.

Angel climbed the ladder of her loft bed, and was, as always, smiling as she remembered the circumstances that allowed both her and Nudge to have a top bunk. They had been arguing over the matter for several days after they were told they were getting a bunk bed. "I'm older; I should get the top bed!" Nudge argued. Angel had shaken her head defiantly.

"No, I should get the top bed because I can't sleep with the other bed above me! It makes me feel like I'm going to be squished," Angel persisted with a dramatic shudder.

"I WANT THE TOP BUNK!" Nudge yelled at her seven-year-old sister.

"NO, IT'S MINE!" Angel screamed back.

At this point, Max had rushed in, demanding to know why they wanted to be heard by the scientists in Antarctica. "I'm getting the top bed, right Max?" Nudge had asked confidently, sure that Max would say yes.

"No, the top bed is mine!" Angel corrected Nudge. Nudge scowled at her, and Angel frowned back. Max shook her head over the silliness of the situation, and decided to tell the girls about Fang's perfect idea.

"Angel is getting the top bunk," Max told the girls firmly. Nudge wilted, and Angel smirked triumphantly. "But Nudge is too." _That_ wiped the smile off of Angel's face.

Nudge bounced back, her eyes glowing as she tried to figure out what Max could possibly mean. "ZOMG Max what do you mean are we going to sleep in the same bed I don't want to do that if we could have our own and I don't want to switch off either, I want my own bed and it to stay my own bed 'cause we've had to be poor and crammed together and stuff all of our lives and now I want my own bed!" Nudge protested. Angel nodded, finally agreeing with Nudge, when Max suddenly smiled at them.

"You're getting a loft bed instead of a bunk, Iggy and Fang are building it as we speak. As soon as I said the words, 'bunk bed', the guys knew you would fight over top bunk. Fang thought of building a loft bed, so it'll be one bed against one wall of the room, supported on tall pieces of wood, like a bunk bed, and an empty space underneath where the lower bed would be for your stuff. Then, on another wall, it'll be another bed like it, with a nightstand thing in the corner between the beds. That way, you'll both be at the height of a top bunk, so no more problem!" Max finished. Angel and Nudge stared at her, mouths open, before bursting into squeals and hugging her.

"Thank you Max!" They chorused happily.

Angel remembered the argument and resolution of it very vividly, as it had been one of their last times with Fang before he left the flock. She climbed into her loft bed now, and surveyed the messy room before flopping back onto the mound of blankets piled on her mattress. She gazed up at the ceiling for a moment, before voicing her thoughts aloud. "Fang, where are you?"

"Where do you think?" A dark, teasing voice answered. Angel sat bolt upright on her bed, wildly looking around. "I'm here for you Ange. I just need a little more time," The disembodied voice of Fang soothed.

"But I want you _now!_" Even to her own ears, Angel's tone sounded slightly whining. Fang laughed, a smooth, comforting laugh, like melted dark chocolate put into sound. "I _need _you now, Fang. The whole flock needs you, including Max."

That sobered Fang up. He was standing on the outside windowsill, his back to the wall of the house and his ears listening to Angel's sweet, seven-year-old voice, heavy with sadness. "I know," Fang whispered. "I'll be back." And with that, he jumped off the window sill, cracking open his wings with a single fluid motion and flying off. Angel jumped the six feet off her mattress to the floor and ran over to the window to watch Fang fly away yet again. Tears pricked at her eyes, but she shook them away resolutely. Crying wouldn't help, and although her wings were itching to open and soar off after her older brother, Angel knew that wouldn't help at all. Like he said, he just needed a little more time. Angel sniffed for a moment, before leaving the window to climb back into her bed. She pulled Celeste out of the folds of a blanket, holding the bear tightly to her as she tried to comfort herself. Soon, Iggy's voice rang through the house.

"Dinner is SERVED! If you don't come now, I'll eat it all!" Angel smiled at the sound of footsteps racing down the stairs, and descended her ladder, still holding Celeste by one of her weary, smudged paws. She walked down the hallway and into the kitchen with the bear still in her hands, to behold a struggling Iggy fighting off Gazzy with a wooden spoon. "Oy! Wait your turn, Angel asked for pasta, so she gets first dibs!" Iggy yelled at the younger boy. Gazzy humphed impatiently, feigning sulkiness as Angel smiled and cut him in line for pasta. In fact, even as she ate the deliciousness that was Iggy's cooking, she could feel her sadness over Fang's departure evaporating.

That is, until Max came in, her face attempting to look cheerful as she talked half-heartedly with Nudge about _The Princess Bride._ Angel couldn't help but remember what Fang had said.

_"I'm here for you Ange. I just need a little more time…"_

_Please Fang, please make a little time only a little while. Please come back soon. We need you for the flock to be complete. _Angel sent her thoughts out as far as she could, imagining them soaring over the hills and finding Fang, wherever he was. She smiled at the thought, and continued with her dinner. There was nothing more she could do but wait for her big brother to finally come home.

**Awwww! That is so cute!**

**Angel: I know, right? **

**Fang inspires me a lot. I love writing sad stuff about the end of FANG. It seems so… natural. And yeah, I love writing about Angel too. She's just so cute! And I usually let her show her seven-year-old turmoil. XD Thanks for reading, now if you could spare a minute, would you do the honor of reviewing for me? It seriously makes my day!**

**~TMI~**


	6. AN

Hey Peoples, I'm so sorry I've been MIA.

REPENT.

It's not entirely my fault. You see, soon after New Years-

Nudge: And that New Years Resolution you made that raised everyone's hopes about you updating quicker-

I said I was sorry! Anyway, my computer totally and utterly DIED. And I had half of the next iPod Screen chappie typed up, all of the next chapter for two other stories, the ideas for School Days and Erasing Lissa, and the beginnings of the next chapter for ATM Wars and Race for the Cure. So yeah, I need to figure out how to raise my laptop from the dead. Then, I will update EVERYTHING in a major spree! But just saying, I procrastinated on writing this A/N 'cause I hate writing them, and there are some stories where this will be the second A/N, which I HATE. I'm so sorry you guys. Please forgive me.

Angel: She's banging her head against the wall.

Gazzy: Poor TMI…. –eats cookies-

HEY! That was MY cookie! –tackles Gazzy-

…

This is Nudge writing. TMI is wrestling with Gazzy over the last cookie now. So yeah, this note was typed on TMI's mother's computer, but the lady won't let her write whole chapters 'cause it takes too long and TMI's little brother-

Angel: She calls him Shortso. XP

-needs to type up his project. So yeah! Byezas!

Angel? Will you do the honors?

Angel: SURE! So sorry about the inconvenience people, TMI is beating herself up about disappointing you guys…. Now to write her signature thingymacdoodle!

~TMI~


	7. You know, Max

**YOU CAN'T BEGIN TO EVEN IMAGINE HOW SORRY I AM I HAVEN'T UPDATED. My computer just revived, so I'm hoping it'll stay alive so I can write more. Enjoy!**

Fang woke up, staring around confusedly at the gray walls of the cave. Suddenly, it clicked in his mind, and he groaned as the memories of his idiotic decision to leave the flock flowed back into his mind.

His campfire had long since smoldered into ashes, and fallen cold. Fang cursed as he sifted through them with a stick, trying to find a live spark to start a new fire. He had no luck, and had to sit with his back to the rock wall, huddling under his sweatshirt for warmth in the cold cave.

Finally, he decided that it would be warmer outside, and crawled out of the cave, out into the sunlight. It burst over the tops of the trees, flowing in bright waves to the ground. Fang stretched out his wings luxuriously, reveling in the warmth soaking into his feathers. Bliss.

_"The flock needs you, including Max."_

Fang could still picture Angel's sad face as she tried to persuade him to stay. Luckily, he was out of sight of her never-fail Bambi eyes, or else his willpower would have immediately crumbled and the next thing he knew he'd be rushing through the house to see Max. Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing…

Once Fang thought of Max, his mind immediately riveted on that topic. All he could think about were her sparkling brown eyes, her beautiful face, tough attitude, sarcastic comebacks… Before he knew it, Fang was up in the air, flying as fast as he could towards the flock's house.

He couldn't believe it had taken him so long to realize that his pride was the thing getting in the way of him returning to the flock. He had no real reason to back up his hesitance to come back, no real comebacks he could use to protect himself. When he thought about it, it was definitely just his own ego speaking up, not wanting to come slinking back after a mere two months, when he had declared he was leaving for twenty years. Whispers pushed at his mind, doubting his decision to finally come back. _What if she doesn't __let __you come back, hmm Fang? What happens then? You lose your dignity too, along with your heart. Just let her go, fly away, don't think about the flock._

SHUT UP! He yelled mentally, brushing the doubts aside. He was set on going back, making things right with Max again. If she didn't want to talk to him, didn't want him in her life anymore, he couldn't really blame her. After all, he had just abandoned her without a warning, with just a flimsy excuse to cover his retreat. What had made him leave in the first place?

_You aren't supposed to go back, Fang. Listen to me now. __You cannot go back. __It's impossible for you and Max to work together without emotion clouding your decisions. All you can think about is each other, even when you're separated like this! This cannot work! Forget about her!_

Fang scowled, pumping his wings harder as he flew through the clouds, water and wind whipping his face. _Who are you, what are you doing in my mind? _He growled mentally.

_I'm Max's Voice. You have to listen to me, Fang. You weren't supposed to get so obsessed with each other. Yes, we originally wanted you two to fall in love, but now we don't anymore!_

_ That's too bad, 'cause I still love Max. I'm not a robot, and you can't tell me to suddenly stop loving her. It doesn't work that way, Voice. Not in the real world._ Fang shot back. The Voice sighed, falling momentarily silent. Fang smiled tightly, feeling triumphant.

_Very well, Fang. If you won't listen to me, they're going to do this the hard way, _The Voice warned Fang suddenly. He shook his head, blinking furiously to try to rid his thoughts of the Voice's words.

_Whatever. You can't stop me from going back to the flock,_ Fang replied, propelling himself even faster through the clouds. He couldn't stop an uneasy feeling from rising in his gut, but tried his best to ignore it, willing himself to fly as fast as he could. There was nothing he wanted more than to wrap his arms around Max and just bury his face in the intoxicating scent of her hair. That is, if she had showered recently.

Fang spotted the tall, tan plastered house that the flock was staying in, a feeling of relief washing over him. He threw caution to the winds and nosedived to the lawn, rolling and standing as he hit the ground. It was the fastest way to land, and he had a weird, intense feeling driving him on through the door. It felt like anxiety, fear, uneasiness, comfort, and anticipation all wrapped into one emotion and lodged in his throat. Swallowing difficultly, Fang grasped the doorknob and tried to turn it. The handle was locked, but to Fang's surprise, the door simply fell in, completely torn off its hinges. It clattered loudly on the hardwood floors, making Fang flinch. He expected the flock to come running out at any moment, yelling in astonishment as Fang stood awkwardly in the empty doorway.

Not a sound filled the house. No excited flock came to greet Fang.

He frowned, not feeling right. Something was definitely wrong if not even Nudge, who got excited by everything, or Max, who was paranoid about everything, came to investigate why the door randomly fell down. Cautiously, Fang stepped over the door and entered the flock's house. It was silent as the grave, completely deserted. For a brief moment, Fang wondered if they had simply all gone out somewhere. Then he shook his head, frowning at himself. Why would the door have fallen in if the flock was simply away? Something was wrong, Fang bet his wings on it.

"Hello?" Fang called, his voice echoing hesitantly through the hall. There was no response. "Iggy, Gaz? Nudge? Angel , Total?" Fang named the flock one by one, pausing after each to see if they would answer his call. "M-Max?" he croaked, a sudden spurt of emotion welling up in his throat.

Still no reply.

Fang cautiously stepped further into the house. Carefully, with his wings tensed and fists clenched, he made his way to the staircase. There was no signs of a scuffle downstairs, and when he peeked into the kitchen, it looked the same; normal, and deserted. Fang looked up the stairs, checking for traps or weak steps. As far as he could tell, nothing was wrong with them, so Fang started up the stairs.

He glanced into every room in turn, easily identifying the dweller of each. Gazzy occupied the one next to the bathroom, one equipped with a couple beanbags, a large desk, and several wide windows. Nudge and Angel's room looked the same as it had the last time he visited, with the loft beds, and several fuzzy, purple and orange throw pillows lying about. A large blue beanbag lay next to Angel's bed, with several black hairs on it identifying it as Total's sleeping place. Iggy's room was all white, with white walls, white curtains, white covers on the bed, and white furniture. Obviously, he had been using the skill he gained in Antarctica to see inside his own room.

Fang swallowed as he poked his head inside Max's room. He hadn't been inside this room since he had drawn on her wallpaper what seemed like forever ago. The purple comforter on her bed was rumpled and messy, and the papers on her desk were as scattered as ever. Fang noticed the iPod touch still plugged into the wall, quietly charging in wait for its owner to return. Crossing the room, Fang's eye was caught by a hole in the wall. He came closer to inspect it, and realized that the hole went all the way through the wall. Fang wondered how he had missed it while walking through the hallway before, since he could clearly see the hall through the gap. Max had clearly had a temper tantrum to punch through the wall. Looking closely at it, Fang noticed several bloodstains around the jagged hole, and immediately felt guilty. He was sure that he had been the cause of Max's anger, and so in a way, he had hurt Max. He had caused her both emotional _and _physical pain. How could he ever have thought that leaving the flock would help her? They both leaned on each other, and he had destroyed their balance.  
_Fang. Leave the house, right now, and we won't hurt you. _

Fang scowled at the voice resonating through his head. "Oh, shut up," he snarled out loud. "You took my flock, you took my Max, and now you won't let me try to get them back?"

_You aren't meant to be together. Leave now, and neither of you will get hurt._

Fang immediately grew wary. "What do you mean, neither of us? What did you do with Max? Where are the rest of the flock?"

_Leave now, and neither of you will get hurt. Listen to me, Fang. Leave now, and neither of you will get hurt._

Fang shook his head, suddenly feeling dizzy. "Stop messing with my head!" he yelled, leaning on Max's bed to steady himself. "Leave me and the flock alone!"

_Leave now, and neither of you will get hurt._

"What if I want to get hurt? I'm more than happy to get hurt if I get my family back!" Fang fell back on Max's bed, closing his eyes. "I'm willing to get hurt if I get my flock back. You can hurt me all you want if I can just get my life back. Go ahead."

_You want to get hurt?_

"Yes," Fang replied, his eyes still shut. He lay, relaxed, on top of the purple comforter. It smelled like Max, truly earning the name 'comforter'. "Do your worst, just let me have my family back. Let me have Max."

_Fang, you have to leave now. Leave now, and neither of you will get hurt._

Fang sat bolt upright, his eyes flying open. "Did you hear me?" he yelled angrily, showing more emotion than he had in months. "Hurt me for all I care! Give me the flock back!"

_Leave now, and neither of you will get hurt._

"You'll have to make me." Fang crossed his arms, resuming his emotionless mask once more.

_If you won't leave, you will be hurt more traumatically than you believe possible._

"Do your worst. I don't care anymore," Fang spat back. He fell back onto Max's bed, reveling in the scent of her left in the blankets.

_Very well. You were warned._

Suddenly, there were footsteps on the stairs, racing up into the second level. Five mutants burst into the room just in time to see Fang arch his back and pass out. His eyes flew open as he screamed in his unconsciousness, an unearthly, haunting sound. Another mutant flew at two hundred miles per hour into the room, skidding to a stop on the carpet. She looked around frantically, finding Fang lying on the bed. With tears trailing from her eyes, she ran over, trying to reach Fang. An invisible force wrapped around her legs, causing her to trip and fall before she got to him. Sobbing helplessly, she tried to continue towards the unconscious bird kid, but to no avail. As long as she moved towards Fang, the force wouldn't let her twitch a muscle. Iggy pulled her back forcibly, pinning her arms to her side. She yelled in defiance, trying to squirm her way out of Iggy's grip. However, he held firm, keeping her in a tight grasp. Eventually, she slumped over, emotionally exhausted, and watched Fang's limp form twitch and jerk about on the bed. "Why?" she whispered, unable to tear her gaze away from the horrific sight. "Why wouldn't he just leave?"

"You know why, Max," Iggy told her softly, sounding choked up. "You know why."

**YAY GUESS WHAT? MY COMPUTER IS WORKING AGAIN! Let's hope it stays that way. **

**I'm soooooooooooooo extremely sorry about not updating this that you can't begin to imagine it. I REPENT! Please don't punish me by not reviewing! I don't think I could take it. =(**

**Review? Please?**

**Sincerely, **

**~TMI~**


	8. I Missed You

There weren't enough words to describe the way Max was feeling as she stared helplessly at the familiar figure sprawled over her bed. This was the boy who had held her in his arms and kissed her until she couldn't think straight. This was the boy she was sure she loved. This was the boy who would die for her, and she would die for him. This was the boy who had abandoned her what seemed like such a long time ago, breaking her heart and leaving her drowning in confusion and sorrow.

This was Fang.

Max gazed at him through blurry, tear-filled eyes. It was true that Fang had left her, after promising he never would. However, Max just couldn't help but forgive him. Deep inside her wounded heart, she knew that Fang truly thought it would be best for her.

Silly boy. Fang should have known her better than that. He had left and tried to come back, and now Max was left staring at him as he paid the price for his actions. Max instinctively knew that Fang had tried to rectify his mistake. She knew that he still loved her, and that she still loved him. But for some reason, someone powerful didn't like that, and now they were hurting Fang as a result. Iggy had to use all of his strength to hold her back, so she wouldn't attempt to get to Fang again. Finally, he gently released her arms, letting her free from his strong grasp. Max dropped forward on her hands and knees, her hair hanging over her face as she gazed forlornly at Fang. There was nothing she could do to help him, and that was unbearable.

Angel clung to Nudge in fear, her eyes huge and frightened. Nudge's own eyes were wide and afraid as she watched her brother thrash around on Max's bed. In all appearances, Fang looked possessed. His arms and legs jerked about wildly, and he punched and kicked the air as if it was attacking him. Gazzy couldn't keep his eyes on Fang's face. His expression was painfully honest for once, none of the brutal emotion and pain hidden from his face. Fang's skillful, unfeeling mask was ripped apart in the face of this horrible torture. Gazzy let out a small whimper, completely floored by this horrific display. It was nightmare material.

The flock could barely watch as he visibly suffered under an invisible hand, and they all jumped backwards in alarm when Fang suddenly jerked bolt upright and screamed. It was an agonizing sound. None of the flock had ever heard him emit so much as a pained yelp. The scream he let out now seemed unreal. It didn't seem possible that Fang could create such a passionate, pained sound. Suddenly, he arched his back spasmodically, his fathomless eyes flying open. Fang's gaze landed directly on Max as he stared at her helplessly. Max choked back a sob as she returned his gaze, her heart aching. It was all she could do not to scream back and race to his side. She knew it would prove useless, but Max just couldn't bear to just stand and watch Fang hurt like this. She stood up shakily, not tearing her eyes away from his. Fang sank back down on the bed, his head flopping down on her pillow, but he didn't break eye contact.

"Fang," she whispered, and the entire flock flinched at the raw sincerity in her voice. "Fang, I'm here. I'm right here." Fang's dark eyes flickered, and for a moment he looked serene, his face relaxing out of its pained mask.

"Max," he rasped. Max choked back another sob at the sound of his voice. She hadn't heard that voice in so long.

Max took two steps forward, reaching her hand out as if to try to touch his face. Her fingers came in contact with the invisible wall though, and her face twisted in anger. "What the hell?" she yelled, brushing aside her usual attempts to keep her language clean in front of the younger kids. "Why is this happening?" Max sank to her knees in front of the bed, pressing both of her clenched fists to the invisible barrier. "What's happening?" she whispered, her eyes riveted on Fang's face.

_Maximum. Step away from Fang._

"What are you _doing _to him?" Max yelled aloud. Somehow, she knew that the Voice was somehow responsible for Fang's pain. Her heart throbbed as Fang's face clenched in pain again, and his eyes closed once more. His arm jerked into the air, before falling limply back down again.

_Step away from Fang._

"No!" Max screamed, tears starting to cascade down her face again. She had cried more that week than she had in the first twelve years of her life, Max reflected bitterly. And it was all stemming from the same place. "You have to make me! Just try and make me step away! I dare you!"

_How ironic. That's what Fang said too. And look where that got him now, Maximum._

"What? No!" Max closed her eyes feebly, unable to look at Fang's pained face again. "Why are you hurting him so much?"

_Step away from Fang._

"You're repeating yourself," Max muttered sarcastically.

_Step away from Fang, and we'll stop his pain. If you don't step away, we'll make it increase tenfold._

"No," Max whispered, her eyes flying open again. She gazed at Fang, lying on her bed and twitching irregularly. He wouldn't be able to take more pain, not if this amount made him react like that. Fang was one of the strongest of them. He had rarely ever let the flock see his pain before, hiding behind his stoic mask.

_Maximum, step away from Fang. _

Max rose unsteadily to her feet, her eyes still trained on Fang's face. Hesitantly, she took a miniscule step backwards. Her heart was tearing at having to leave Fang, but she tried to convince herself that she was helping him. Slowly, Max took another tiny step away from the bed. And another. The flock watched silently, unaware of the struggle taking place in her mind.

_That's right. Just let him go._

At those words, something snapped inside Max. Her famous temper flared, almost blinding her with its intensity. She took a series of quick steps backward, then snapped her wings out further, and ran to the window. Without a backwards glance, she jumped out, soaring away quickly.

The flock stood awkwardly in the room, torn between following Max and staying to keep an eye on Fang. His condition hadn't improved since Max left. In fact, it had steadily worsened. Fang was now twitching uncontrollably, his brave mask shattered into oblivion. He tossed and turned on the comforter, his muscles tensed and his back arched. Veins stood out lividly on his arms and temple, accenting his obvious pain. Angel finally had to look away, unable to watch Fang act so un-Fanglike any longer. Nudge was about to jump out the window and follow Max when a huge force came hurtling through the window, its power throwing the flock back from its path. The streak of power rocketed into the room so quickly that it was almost impossible to see. Then, in less than a second, it crashed against the invisible barrier, causing the air around the bed to visibly waver and falter.

It was Max. She had used her super speed to gain enough force to crash into the barrier. At her contact with the invisible shield, Fang rocketed straight up, his mouth open in a silent scream of pain. Tears leaked from Max's eyes as she staggered back to her feet, but she ignored her pain, both physical and mental, as she spread her wings and flew back out the window.

The flock was prepared for her attack this time, and cleared to the sides of the room. A few seconds later, Max streaked back in at blinding speed, crashing into the barrier again. It buckled, the air flashing in response to her attacks. Fang rolled onto his side so that he was facing the wall, his arms clenched. Although the flock couldn't see it, his fingernails were digging so far into his palms that they drew blood. Gasping heavily, Max tried to get up again from where she had fallen after hitting the shield. Nudge ran forward to help her stand, and Max smiled weakly at her. "Thanks," Max whispered, her voice hoarse with effort. Blinking back tears, Nudge nodded back at her. Without another word, Max ran back to the window and jumped out, her wings flapping heavily. It was obvious to see that Max was draining herself quickly, but the flock could see she needed to do this by herself. It wasn't their place to butt in. Helplessly, they shuffled their feet at the sides of the room, avidly watching the window as they waited for Max to come back.

They were not disappointed. Within a minute, Max had powered her way back into the room. This last flight was even faster than the previous ones. The flock couldn't even see her enter back through the window. They only saw the shield buckle inward one last time, cracking and dissolving. There was a tangible tension release in the room as Fang sat up wearily, his face haggard and pale. He rubbed his eyes shakily, looking around at the flock. "Sup," he whispered weakly, trying to smile. Angel's eyes brimmed with tears, and Gazzy was sniffing loudly. They watched in silence as Fang searched the room for Max. Then, he looked down, and his weak smile collapsed completely. His expression lapsed back into its natural stoic mask as he staggered off the bed, and Nudge, Angel and Gazzy involuntarily sighed in relief. It was a simple comfort to see Fang looking normal again, and it reassured them greatly. They weren't fooled though, and the younger kids still knew that there was bound to be more trouble before they could go back to normal again.

Fang put his feet down gingerly on the seafoam-colored carpet, lowering himself down next to where Max lay, crumpled, on the floor next to the bed. His entire body was still smarting with pain, but he barely noticed as he gently rolled her over on her back. Her hair slid over her face, masking her expression. Fang gazed sadly at her, momentarily paralyzed by the sight of her so close again. Max's arms were tense still, and she was curled up in a loose ball. Very gently, Fang gathered her up in his arms, bridal style, pulling her up onto his lap. He forgot about the flock watching him as he brushed the hair away from Max's face.

She was just as beautiful as he remembered, with her rounded, dark pink lips, high cheekbones, and long, dark eyelashes. The sunkissed locks of hair framing her face where messy and tangled, and Fang gently ran a finger through them. Max's eyelids twitched in response to his touch, and he tightened his hold on her. Fang leaned down slowly, until his face was just inches above hers. All he could hear was the shallow, rasping sounds of her labored breathing. "Max," Fang whispered, feeling his throat close up with emotion again. "Oh, Max."

Max's eyelids twitched again, and her nose wrinkled slightly. Fang's lips turned slightly up in the faintest smile imaginable. Slowly, ever so slowly, Max's eyes struggled open, meeting Fang's gaze with raw emotion in them. Fang caught his breath at the familiar sight of those dark brown eyes. He had missed them so much. Slowly, Max's lips quirked up in a tiny smile.

"Hi Fang," she whispered back, her voice ragged, but still the same voice that Fang loved so much.

That was it. Fang didn't care that he had just gone through the worst experience of his short, painful life. He didn't care that Max was completely worn out, not even moving her head out of the crook of his elbow. He didn't care that he felt like he could barely move without crying out in pain. Fang didn't even care that the rest of the flock was standing quietly to the side, watching him and Max with shining eyes. He just leaned his head down and pressed his lips to hers.

The kiss was just like the first, mind-melting and sweet. Slowly, as if she had almost forgotten how to, Max raised a hand and tangled her fingers in Fang's long hair, pulling him closer at the same time. Neither of the two heard Nudge's quiet coo as she 'awwwed' over the couple. They were too occupied with relearning each other. Fang slipped the hand not supporting Max's head down to her waist, gently rubbing her hip with his thumb. Max's lips turned upwards in a smile, and she wound a long strand of Fang's hair around her fingers, tugging it in retaliation. Quietly, Nudge ushered the younger two out of the room, and led Iggy out. Fang and Max didn't even notice as she smiled at them and softly closed the door behind her.

"So, what exactly happened at the end?" Iggy asked quietly, gently pulling Nudge over to the side of the hallway. Gazzy and Angel silently wandered down into the kitchen, momentarily shocked by both the horrors of the afternoon and the kiss they had witnessed.

Nudge smiled. "Let's just say that I think Fang is back for good again," she murmured, tapping Iggy's hand. Iggy smiled too, thinking happily about having Fang back in the house again.

"That will be good," Iggy said quietly. Nudge nodded, her smile growing.

"Very good," she agreed. Silently, they followed Angel and Gazzy to the kitchen. None of them spoke, simply letting each other adjust to this new development as they wandered around getting snacks and drinks. The tension level had dropped down to zero, and tranquility reigned momentarily. Then…

"Gazzy!" Angel squealed, grabbing at her brother's hand. "OMG that is soooo cute!"

Gazzy eyed his sister warily. "If it's some gushy gunk that Max and Fang just spat up, then I don't want to hear it," he declared, tugging his hand out of Angel's. Angel pouted, but turned to Nudge instead.

"It's just so cute!" Angel insisted, a smile glowing on her face. Nudge smiled back at her, holding out her hand for Angel to take.

"You can tell me all about it," Nudge promised. She was unusually quiet, sitting and listening as Angel took over her role as ranter. Nudge seemed a bit more subdued after witnessing the spectacle earlier. Fang had been in so much pain, and Max had acted like she was feeling exactly what he was. They were connected far more than Nudge could even begin to fathom. A smile curled on her lips. She was glad Fang was back. It would be good for Max.

Up in Max's room, Fang finally pulled gently away. Max blushed as she looked into his eyes again, unable to tear her gaze away from him. She had missed him even more than she thought she had, and she had been missing him _a lot._ Fang brushed another strand of hair away from her face, his gaze riveted on her eyes. "I missed you," Max whispered, breaking the silence. Fang's eyes turned sad, although his expression remained neutral.

"I missed you too," he replied huskily. Goosebumps rose on Max's arms. One of the things she had missed the most about Fang was his voice. She never failed to shiver when he spoke like this.

"Then why didn't you come back? Scratch that, why did you leave in the first place?" Max asked plainly, her voice regaining strength. Fang looked at her helplessly for a moment, then glanced away.

"I don't know."

"Oh." Max fell silent, watching his face. Suddenly, Fang looked up, and a small grin flickered across his stoic expression.

"Everybody left while we were, umm, _greeting each other_," Fang realized. Max sat up a little, looking around her room. It was true. The flock had left while they were, umm, _greeting each other._

"They didn't want to interrupt us," Max replied, blushing a little. Fang's grin turned into a smirk as he gazed at Max's face again. Her blush grew at the look in his eyes, and she averted her gaze embarrassedly. Gently, Fang laid a finger against her chin, turning her head to look at him again.

"I'm glad," he whispered, passion leaking into his normally passive voice. Max's blush grew, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from his. Without another word though, Fang had leaned down and kissed her again, and she finally closed them. Unconsciously though, Max began to cry again, the tears leaking out from her closed eyes. Fang pulled away hurriedly, looking worried. "Max?" he asked softly. "Are you okay?" He inspected her wet eyelashes, and the trails leading down her cheeks.

Max smiled through her tears, and wordlessly leaned back up to meet Fang's lips again. He smiled, a real smile, against her lips, and forgot his worries as Max wound her fingers through her hair again.

All was right with the world.

**Here's another chapter! I got some very generous reviews from a certain Night Wolf that really made my day. I'm so glad you felt that way about this, and I'm actually kinda proud that I made you cry. XD**

**Gazzy: You're so mean, TMI.**

**I'm sorry! It's just a really high compliment to me. So here's this chapter, full of pain, confusion, and FAX! The thing with the Voice shall be explained in the next chapter, but I might not update for awhile, as I am busy with ten other fanfictions too. XD**

**Review please! Tell me whatcha think about the weird things my mind created! =D**

**~TMI~**


	9. Sunset

**Sooooo… you probably all gave up on this, since the last time I updated was… last April? Ouch. And I just realized that if I were a reader on this, I would pissed off at myself. So I'm just gonna wrap this up. There isn't really much left anyway, but I've been too stupid to end it for you guys. Here's the final chapter of The iPod Screen, thank you so much for reading! This story was the first one that gave me hope that I could be successful on FF, and I truly appreciate all of the support I've received. Thank you all, you deserve twelve tons of chocolate bunnies.**

It was Tuesday.

Iggy was in the kitchen, yelling at Angel to stop eating his cookie dough before he could get the trays in the oven.

Gazzy was helping Nudge fix the front door. No one ever really did figure out why it fell in anyway, but they suspected it was caused mainly by Max's stampede outside earlier when she slammed the door behind her so hard that the teeny window panes at the top shattered in their places.

Total was curled up at the foot of Angel's top bunk, peacefully snoozing away the afternoon.

Today, the whole flock were very studiously avoiding Max and Fang, who were sitting out back on the porch steps as the afternoon waned. It was a unanimous decision that the two older kids needed a little time to themselves to talk, and nobody wanted to risk barging in at the wrong moment.

Max stared straight ahead of her, eyes locked on the fence. It was nondescript, a normal backyard fence painted a deep brown color, but it seemed to hold some fascination for Max. She refused to look anywhere else but at that one section of fencing, and seemed wholly absorbed in her examination of it.

Fang, of course, knew better than to think this was what Max was actually doing. Both of them knew she was trying to buy some time as she struggled to come up with the right words to say, but neither said a word to this effect. Fang sat quietly beside her, his gaze also trained obediently on the fence as he waited for Max to speak.

"You killed me," she remarked finally, her voice oddly calm. "You know that, right Fang?"

Fang winced, but nodded nonetheless. "I was trying to protect you," he murmured, wishing his excuse didn't sound so weak.

"Well, that was a sucky way to do it," Max retorted. She glared at the fence, imagining smoking holes burning into the wood from the heat of her gaze. "Next time you have a bright idea, tell me. Okay? Because I don't want to die again."

"I would say I'm sorry, but you know already how sorry I really am," Fang said finally, watching as a squirrel scampered along the top of the fence. "I love you, Max. I wouldn't hurt you on purpose."

"Well, you did!" Max shot back, sounding like she was choking back tears. "Why would you do that? What possibly made you think that you leaving could make me feel better?"

Fang opened his mouth to reply, but no sound came out. The two sat in silence for a moment, refusing to look at each other. "You know we were getting careless," he started, trying to sound reasonable. "You know we were getting too wrapped up in each other. You needed to take care of the flock, and I was stopping you from doing that. I figured if you removed me from the equation, you would be able to go back to taking care of the flock with as much paranoia and suspicion as you used to."

"You made it worse," Max whispered, hugging her arms to her chest.

"I know," Fang replied, feeling himself flailing helplessly for words. Nothing came to mind, and he could barely stand the tension of the moment. He was an idiot. Max knew it, he knew it, everybody knew it.

There was a pause.

"I think the Voice was part of it," Fang said suddenly, turning to look at Max for the first time.

She didn't look back, keeping her eyes steadily on the fence. "What?" Max asked, sounding skeptical. "Why would the Voice be in your head?"

"It was," Fang insisted, nodding vigorously. "I heard it yesterday, when it was, you know, torturing me and stuff. And before then, when I decided to come back. It was trying to convince me to stay away."

Max didn't reply. Fang stared at her, silently imploring her to believe him. What would he do if she didn't?

"You don't have to make up excuses, Fang," Max informed him, her voice cool. "So what if you left? I guess we were fine without you."

Her words bit deep, sending a whip of pain through Fang's chest. He winced, taking a deep breath and trying to surge through it. It made sense that Max didn't believe him, he tried to convince himself. There was no reason for her to believe the Voice had convinced him to leave her. After all, he had never mentioned it to her before. "I'm not lying to you," he told her firmly, trying to sound convincing. "The whole leaving idea? I'm pretty sure it was my thoughts in the first place, but the Voice encouraged them. And at first I didn't even realize it. I went along with its plans without even noticing. But then when I came back, it started talking again, and I finally figured out it had been there the whole time," Fang explained. Max didn't respond, and Fang started getting desperate. "Believe me Max, please. What do you think made me act like a lunatic, screaming my lungs out yesterday? The Voice was hurting me for coming back. It didn't want me to come back, it-"

"I know it was the Voice yesterday," Max interrupted quietly. Fang fell silent, momentarily reassured by the lack of hostility in her voice. "That was why we were gone in the first place. The Voice told me that we all needed to leave the house, and fast. I gathered up the flock and we started flying. Then when the Voice didn't have a reason for me to go anywhere, I got a little suspicious. I mean, it was like five months without any contact, and then it suddenly comes back? So I decided to turn back, and the Voice tried to keep me from going back. It said it was going to hurt you if I went back to the house." Max paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. Her voice didn't waver again as she continued. "Then I realized you must have been at the house, and I turned us all back immediately. The Voice kept telling me what was happening, that you and me were too stubborn and ignorant to know what was good for us, that we were both going to get hurt by our idiocy. It showed me everything that was happening in the house while we were flying back." Max sniffed a little, furiously swiping at her nose. It was obvious that the memory was not a pleasant experience for her.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Fang whispered, his eyes locked on Max's face.

"I'm sorry you had to get tortured," Max replied bluntly. "That must have sucked."

"Yeah, it kinda did. A lot," Fang agreed.

They both burst out laughing. "We're idiots," Max gasped, looking away from the fence for the first time to grin at Fang.

"No, we're amazing," Fang corrected her, smiling back as they started to calm down. "And that's all that matters."

"Right," Max agreed solemnly. "We're amazing. Not idiots at all."

"Exactly."

They busted out laughing again.

"You know, we should probably be trying to figure out why the Voice was messing with us and crap," Max reflected, leaning comfortably against Fang's shoulder as their laughter subsided.

Fang curled one arm around Max, tugging her towards him. "Right," he murmured as he threaded his free arm around her waist.

"It's probably extremely important," she continued, tucking her head under his chin. Max closed her eyes in contentment, smiling as she felt his heartbeat against her shoulder.

"It most likely is," Fang said again, his tone agreeable as he breathed in the scent of her hair.

"But we aren't going to worry about that right now, are we?" Max asked knowingly. Her wings were awkwardly flared out around her hips, so she pulled them in properly. Fang brushed down a few awry feathers, a smile on his lips as he set them straight on Max's wings. He had missed her so much.

"We aren't," he agreed. The two fell silent, Fang watching the sun set above the brown fence, spilling orange and pink across the sky. Shadows flashed around the yard, playing on the grass and chasing light around the plants. "The sunset is beautiful tonight," Fang remarked quietly, tightening his grip around Max's waist.

"It must be," Max murmured back. However, she kept her eyes shut, ignoring the beauty of the coming dusk. She had all the beauty she needed right here beside her, in the boy she loved.

So maybe the Voice would concoct some evil plot now that he had gained entrance into both of their minds. Maybe he might drive them both crazy, or hurt them again somehow. But they didn't know what could possibly be coming next, and at the moment, neither particularly cared. All that mattered was that they were back together after so much pain and heartache.

That was better than any beautiful sunset.

_**The End.**_

**~TMI~**


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